Man gets life sentence in fatal Holly Hill motel shootout

Friday

Jan 11, 2013 at 9:07 PMJan 11, 2013 at 11:14 PM

MARK I. JOHNSONSTAFF WRITER

DAYTONA BEACH — A 21-year-old man will spend the rest of his life in jail for what prosecutors said was masterminding the attempted robbery of a known drug dealer at a Holly Hill motel that resulted in the death of a 19-year-old participating in the crime. It took jurors just 50 minutes Friday afternoon to find Leroy Gadson guilty of felony second-degree murder and attempted robbery with a deadly weapon for his role in the April 2011 shootout at the Pilot Lodge motel, 1400 Ridgewood Ave. During that incident, Donnell "D.J." Ellis was fatally shot in the chest. This was Gadson's second trial on the charges. His first trial in October resulted in a hung jury. But the six-member jury was unanimous in its verdict Friday. Immediately after the verdict, Circuit Judge R. Michael Hutcheson sentenced Gadson to life in prison on the felony murder conviction and 30 years on the attempted robbery charge. Gadson is already serving a 15-year prison term for violation of probation on a home invasion conviction, Hutcheson said. The verdict did not sit well with either Gadson's or Ellis' families, who filled the S. James Foxman Justice Center courtroom. "It took two trials for them to get their lies together," said Edith Johnson, Gadson's grandmother from Bunnell, who added, "Volusia County railroaded my grandson. He is not guilty of nothing. "He is not a robber and not a killer," she said. "We did not raise him that way." Gadson's mother, Angela Johnson, added, "This was unjustified. There was no evidence, no gun, no forensics, no nothing. The judge gave him life for nothing." Family members of D.J. Ellis were also dissatisfied with the verdict. His mother, Wisteria Harry, would only reiterate that she still believes the real killer of her son has never been arrested or charged with his murder. During his closing argument, Assistant State Attorney Ryan Will said Gadson planned with three others, including Ellis, to beat and rob Lawrence J. Kloc, 22, of drugs and cash. Speaking before the verdict was handed down, Will said the difference between October and this week's evidence was the motive for the robbery, Will said. During his two-hour closing argument, Will took the jury on a step-by-step journey of what the prosecution said happened on April 16, 2011."April 16, 2011, D.J. Ellis woke up, got dressed and began the last day of his life," Will told jurors. "A life taken in a robbery planned and executed by (Leroy Gadson)."In their initial investigation of the motel shootout, police suspected Gadson, Ellis and Darshawn Broadwater, 21, had been shot in a drive-by shooting while standing in front of 56-year-old Jerry Roy Crew's motel room. However, additional information came to light that indicated the four had lured Kloc to the motel to rob him.That plan fell apart when Kloc arrived in the company of two other men, Chauncy Gilmore, who was 17 at the time, and Jamie Evans, now 21, police said. When Kloc entered Crew's room he was jumped by Gadson, Ellis and Broadwater, and Gilmore and Evans came to his aid.Prosecutors believe Ellis, armed with a 9-mm pistol, opened fire on Gilmore — armed with a .380-caliber pistol — and Evans. Gilmore returned fire, fatally striking Ellis in the chest. Kloc grabbed Gilmore's pistol as he fled the room and fired back, hitting Gadson and Broadwater, police said. In his closing, defense attorney Kevin Bledsoe questioned whether a robbery ever took place. "What happened at the Pilot Lodge was not initiated by a robbery," said Bledsoe after wrapping up his argument. That fact is important because to be found guilty of felony murder, jurors had to find Gadson guilty of at least attempted robbery. He claimed the state's case was entirely based on the testimony of people willing to lie in an effort to help themselves rather than Leroy Gadson. Crew was sentenced in December to 30 years in prison after being found guilty of felony murder and robbery. Court records show Kloc, the intended robbery victim, pleaded no contest in February to two counts of aggravated battery and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Gilmore was charged with possession of a firearm by a delinquent, while Evans, who was unarmed, was not charged. Broadwater is scheduled to be sentenced at the end of January after pleading no contest in November to second-degree murder.